Carton

ABSTRACT

A unitary carton blank adapted to be erected to form a dispensing carton for packaged articles is disclosed. The carton is formed having a tear-away zone to provide an access opening to facilitate removal of selected packages in the container and an inclined plane with a locking means integrally formed on one side of the carton so that the packages near the said side can be easily removed from the package.

United States Patent 1191 Roth 3,750,930 Aug. 7, .1973

[ CARTON [75] Inventor:

McCleary..................... 9/1961 Heanberg......

12/1962 Johnson 12/1961 Humphrey et a1.

6/1969 Schoenfeld...................

[73] Assignee:

229/17 B 3,522,878 8/1970 Rosenberg, 221/305 X 22 Filed:

Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moo'rhead Attorney-David S. Kane, James J. Salerno et al.

21 Appl. No.: 267,218

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The carton is formed having a tear-away zone to provide an access opening to facilitate removal of selected packages in the container and an inclined plane with a locking means integrally formed on one side of the car- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ton so that the packages near the said side can be easily removed from the package.

229/17 B 229/17 B X 229/17 B 229/17 B 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1,898,056 2/1956 Johnson 1,956,642 5/1934 Einson.....

2,299,027 10/1942 Novak PATENTEB AUG 7 9 SHEET 3 BF 3 CARTON BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cartons which dispense articles prepackaged in semirigid packages and more particularly cartons which dispense packaged surgical supplies that are sold in unit lots such as surgical blades, gauze pads or the like, must be opened and closed after each use or sale. Also, if the access opening is removed the carton does not provide a panel for indicia to enable the user to determine the contents of the package. In addition, when the closure for the access opening is removed the articles or packages in the carton may have a tendency to slide out where only a single or several packages are required or, if a baffle or panel is provided which partially covers the access opening, the last few packages are not visible and are difficult to remove. Also, the usual inclined panel or baffle restricts the amount of product that can be loaded into the carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the foregoing in mind it is an object of the present invention to provide a unitary carton blank adapted to be erected to form a dispensing carton having an inclined plane with locking means integrally formed on one side of the carton to facilitate ready removal of packaged articles therefrom.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a unitary carton which can be loaded to approximately 100 percent of its cubic area while providing slide dispensing means for packages.

It is another object of the invention to provide a perforated scoreline to define a tear-away zone to form the access opening while leaving the inclined plane erected and intact so that articles to be dispensed may be readily removed. It is a further object of the invention to provide a panel which partially covers a portion of the access opening and which is adapted to receive indicia for identification of the packaged articles contained in the opened carton so that the opened carton need not be removed from the shelf to determine the packaged contents.

The invention contemplates providing a unitary carton blank capable of being erected into a dispensing carton, the carton including a perforated scoreline extending over a portion of the sidewalls and top of the carton so that when the portions of the top and side panels are torn away an access opening is provided. Adjacent the bottom of the carton is an integrally formed incline plane having locking means to lock the incline plane in position so that when packaged articles are placed in the container the packaged articles are readily removed and when the last few packaged articles remain in the carton the inclined plane surface facilitates their ready removal. The invention also contemplates providing a panel to receive indicia to identify the contents of the packaged articles in the carton.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the unitary foldable carton blank of the invention herein in sheet form before erecting into a carton or container.

FIG. 2 is a fragmented perspective view of the end closure for the carton being erected.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front or access opening of the carton and also illustrates the initial steps for erecting the inclined plane in position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view partially fragmented which illustrates the carton in fully erected position with the inclined plane locked into position.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the carton closed off the access opening.

FIG. 6 is a partially fragmentary end view similar to FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevational view of the carton in erected position having contained therein packaged articles ready for dispensing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, unitary carton blank 10 comprises side panels 1 and 2 with top panel 3 positioned between side panels 1 and 2. Bottom panel 4 lies adjacent side panel 2 and glue tab 5 lies adjacent panel 1 which when the carton blank 10 is erected as illustrated in FIG. 4 tab 5 will lie on the inner surface of bottom panel 4. Panels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively are separated by scorelines 6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively which provide the longitudinal edge portions of the carton 12 as depicted in erected position in FIG. 4. The end closure assembly as shown being erected in FIG. 2 comprises symmetrical tabs 14 and 15 which extend from top and bottom panels 3 and 4 respectively and closure flaps or tabs 16 and 17 which extend from side panels 1 and 2 respectively. The end closure tabs 14, 15, 16 and 17 are separated from panels 1, 2, 3 and 4 by some lines 18, 19, 20 and 21.

The access opening or front closure assembly of carton 12 is formed by tabs 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 which extend from side, top and bottom panels 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Tab 23 is separated from side panel 1 by scoreline 27, tab 22 is separated from top panel 3 by scoreline 28, tabs 24 and 25 are separated from side panel 2 by scoreline 29 and tab 26 is separated from bottom panel 4 by scoreline 30. A perforated scoreline 32 extends partially through side panels 1 and 2 and top panel 3 so that when the portions of side panels 1 and 2 and top panel 3 along with tabs 22 and 25 are removed an access opening is formed as shown in section in FIG. 7.

Inclined plane 35 includes a front upright panel 26 and inclined plane surface 33. The inclined plane 35 is held in fixed locking position by locking member 34 which is hingedly connected by scoreline 36 to incline plane surface 35 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Protrusion 38 is cut from incline plane surface 33 and extends from tab 34. When tab 34 lies flat edge 51 will lock or bias against edge 40 on panel 5 and lead edge 39 of protrusion 38 will bias against panel 26 as shown in FIG. 4 thereby locking incline plane 35 in position.

FIG. 7 illustrates carton 12 having individual packages P ready for dispensing. Packages P are flexible and conform to surfaces of inclined plane 35 and can be removed serially without removing the carton from the shelf and when only several packages remain they are easily removed by sliding along surface 33 of incline plane 35. Also, where product P employs flexible packaging materials substantially the entire volume of carton 12 can be utilized even when panel 26 is erected as illustrated in FIG. 7. Panel 26 as illustrated in erected position in FIGS. 4 and 7 provides a surface so that indicia, for example a label, may be placed on the panel to indicate the contents of the carton.

FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which the end closure assembly is folded while FIG. 4 illustrates the end closure assembly in locked position. FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the access opening in closed position where closure panel 25 is locked in position by notch 25' formed in the hinged connection of panel 25 with depending tab or flap 50. As seen in FIG. 3, the front closure assembly of carton 12 is in the stage of erection while in FIG. 5 the front closure assembly is in fully closed position.

From the foregoing description of unitary carton blank which is adapted to form dispensing carton l2, modifications in design and construction can be made without departure from the present inventive concept. The location and shape of the perforated scoreline for removing the front closure portion of the carton and the incline plane means may be varied in shape and design while maintaining the essential features and characteristics of the dispensing carton disclosed herein.

1 claim:

1. A unitary carton blank adapted to be erected to form a dispensing carton for packaging articles, said blank comprising a generally rectangular body portion including a pair of side wall panels adapted to be spaced opposite one another; and a pair of top and bottom panels adapted to be spaced opposite one another and perpendicular to said side wall panels, incline plane means extending from one end of said bottom panel adapted to be erected to facilitate removal of packages from the carton; a tear-away zone extending through portions of said side walls and top wall and adapted to be removed therefrom to provide an access opening; a closure assembly hingedly connected to said top, side and bottom panels adapted to form the closed end of the carton when erected; a generally rectangular panel portion hingedly connected to one of said side panels and having adhesive means applied thereto for adhesively bonding said bottom panel thereto and locking means adapted to be engaged by said incline plane when erecting said carton.

2. The unitary carton blank as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tear-away zone is defined by a perforated scoreline extending through portions of said side walls and top wall.

3. The unitary carton blank as set forth in claim 1 wherein said incline plane means is hingedly connected to one end of said bottom panel and includes a rectangular section hingedly connected to an end of an incline plane surface adapted to be erected to form a wall perpendicular to said bottom wall and a locking tab means hingedly connected to other end of said incline plane surface and adapted to lockingly engage the perpendicular wall section and bottom wall section to maintain the incline plane in erected position.

4. A dispensing carton formed from a unitary packaging blank and adapted to receive a plurality of pack aged articles, the packaging blank having a pair of wide wall panels spaced opposite and parallel to one another and a pair of narrow wall panels spaced opposite and parallel to one another and perpendicular to and hingedly connected to the wide wall panels; a closure assembly hingedly connected to said wide wall and narrow wall panels and being formed at one end thereof; a dispensing opening formed at the other end of said wide wall and narrow wall panels and being hingedly connected thereto; said dispensing opening adapted to be torn away from the pair of wide wall panels and at least one narrow wall panel so as to provide an access opening to remove the packaged articles therefrom and an incline plane means formed integrally with said other narrow wall panel, said incline plane means having a wall perpendicular to said narrow wall panel and a panel extending into the access opening to form said incline plane surface and means formed on said incline plane surface for locking said incline panel in fixed erected position so as to facilitate ready removal of packages from said carton after the access opening has been torn away.

5. The carton of claim 4 wherein said panel is perpendicular to said narrow panel and provides a surface for receiving indicia.

6. The carton of claim 4 wherein said access opening is formed by a perforated scoreline defining said tearaway zone, said tear-away zone including portions of said wide wall panels and at least one of said narrow wall panels.

7. The carton of claim 4 wherein substantially the entire volume of said carton can be filled with said packaged articles. 

1. A unitary carton blank adapted to be erected to form a dispensing carton for packaging articles, said blank comprising a generally rectangular body portion including a pair of side wall panels adapted to be spaced opposite one another; and a pair of top and bottom panels adapted to be spaced opposite one another and perpendicular to said side wall panels, incline plane means extending from one end of said bottom panel adapted to be erected to facilitate removal of packages from the carton; a tear-away zone extending through portions of said side walls and top wall and adapted to be removed therefrom to provide an access opening; a closure assembly hingedly connected to said top, side and bottom panels adapted to form the closed end of the carton when erected; a generally rectangular panel portion hingedly connected to one of said side panels and having adhesive means applied thereto for adhesively bonding said bottom panel thereto and locking means adapted to be engaged by said incline plane when erecting said carton.
 2. The unitary carton blank as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tear-away zone is defined by a perforated scoreline extending through portions of said side walls and top wall.
 3. The unitary carton blank as set forth in claim 1 wherein said incline plane means is hingedly connected to one end of said bottom panel and includes a rectangular section hingedly connected to an end of an incline plane surface adapted to be erected to form a wall perpendicular to said bottom wall and a locking tab means hingedly connected to other end of said incline plane surface and adapted to lockingly engage the perpendicular wall section and bottom wall section to maintain the incline plane in erected position.
 4. A dispensing carton formed from a unitary packaging blank and adapted to receive a plurality of packaged articles, the packaging blank having a pair of wide wall panels spaced opposite and parallel to one another and a pair of narrow wall panels spaced opposite and parallel to one another and perpendicular to and hingedly connected to the wide wall panels; a closure assembly hingedly connected to said wide wall and narrow wall panels and being formed at one end thereof; a dispensing opening formed at the other end of said wide wall and narrow wall panels and being hingedly connected thereto; said dispensing opening adapted to be torn away from the pair of wide wall panels and at least one narrow wall panel so as to provide an access opening to remove the packaged articles therefrom and an incline plane means formed integrally with said other narrow wall panel, said incline plane means having a wall perpendicular to said narrow wall panel and a panel extending into the access opening to form said incline plane surface and means formed on said incline plane surface for locking said incline panel in fixed erected position so as to facilitate ready removal of packages from said carton after the access opening has been torn away.
 5. The carton of claim 4 wherein said panel is perpendicular to said narrow panel and provides a surface for receiving indicia.
 6. The carton of claim 4 wherein said access opening is formed by a perforated scoreline defining said tear-away zone, said tear-away zone including portions of said wide wall panels and at leAst one of said narrow wall panels.
 7. The carton of claim 4 wherein substantially the entire volume of said carton can be filled with said packaged articles. 